1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to electrically operated massage devices. More particularly, the invention relates to a flexible, battery operated massage tube.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Conventional electrically operated massage units may be divided into the following three types:
(1) relatively compact, lightweight hand held massage units which contain a vibrator and which may be manually placed on the desired area of the body such as shoulder, waist, leg, arm, etc.;
(2) larger dimension units which consist of a massage block made of a movable pushing material mounted on the backrest of a chair, for example, whereby the neck, shoulder and back of the user are all massaged;
(3) large-scale massage units which contain a massage block provided with a freely movable roller on a mattress or a bed piece so that the user lays down on it, facing upward, and is massaged by the unit.
The conventional compact type massage unit as described above is usually short in length, and the user often feels fatigue on his or her hand and arm when holding the massage unit because the vibrator piece must be directly applied on the desired area of the user's body. In particular, it is difficult to turn the hand and arm to apply the unit to the shoulder, back, etc. or to perform massage for long time because it requires an unnatural posture, and the user often needs help from another person. There have been only a few types of massage units which permit the user to perform massage while he or she continues to do office work, cooking or studying at a table or desk. In the large-scale massage unit of backrest type or upward facing type as described above, the unit is expensive, requires considerable space, and requires that the user sit back and refrain from moving.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,489 to Kamayachi discloses a massage unit which contains a vibrator within a flexible long cylindrical piece. The user can hold both ends of the unit and apply it freely to any desired area of the body. The unit can rest on the affected area and the user can continue office work, cooking, etc. while enjoying the effects of massage. In one embodiment the massage unit can be bent to any desired shape, which shape is retained by a plastically deformable metal wire, such that the user can apply the bent massage unit around any part of the body without having to continue holding the massage unit.
While the Kamayachi device may be satisfactory in use, it has several disadvantages. It has a rather complicated design, its wire spine is subject to fatigue and possible fracture as a result of repeated bending and the range of motion using a metal wire core would also appear limiting.